and if you're still breathing, you're the lucky ones [CLOSED-ISH]

[punkisntdead]

WHO: Chloe, Ann, Subaru, maybe others?
WHAT: One surly punk's arrival and adjustment in the days leading up to Shit Going Down between factions
WHEN: Vaguely early February/mid-Emru
WHERE: Tree of Life, Highstorm, maybe other locations

Closed starters here for stuff Chloe's getting up to before the event. If you want a thread with her, wildcard something here or let me know and I'll toss a starter up!

Comments

oh here we go

[punkisntdead]

[Chloe is no stranger to doing stupid shit for stupid reasons.

And here she is, freshly torn from home and told she’s supposed to be someone of influence in this weird new world, someone with power, someone who is—for a certain definition of the word—technically immortal. So of course it’s the perfect recipe for ramping her usual boldness up even further.

Yet while it might be emboldening, it’s still a fucking crazy situation to find herself in, one she’s becoming in desperate need to take her mind off of. Of course she has one answer for that, and in her unabashed searching she finds one common trail of advice: she’d have better luck underground. What she hadn’t expected was how insanely literal that was, a path lead through sewers giving way to tunnels that twist and turn for what felt like an eternity. Long enough that she’s almost sure she’d fallen for a fucked up prank, or was about to walk headlong into the lair of a serial killer or something.

But then one pathway finally brings into sight the fabled underground city, lit neon from enormous scattered mushrooms, buildings packed tightly and reaching up higher than she would have expected from a city underneath a city. Crazy to see something like this with her own two eyes; it feels like something out of a video game.

Even after spending a year in a real, normal city, it still feels weird to be around so many people at once, especially in as packed a space as this. But she is a woman on a mission, and there is no time to waste feeling daunted by the prospect of the ebb and flow of bodies all around her, of the fact that she has no fucking clue where she’s going.

She holds onto that shaky bit of advice that had brought her down here in the first place, moving with the flow of the crowd and keeping her eyes peeled. It was hard to miss all the gossip upstairs about the attacks, and of course the reputation Kowloon itself had regarding its attitude toward people coming down here from above. And while she might be stupidly bold, she’s not completely stupid—she knows damn well that this is a place where she needs to watch her back. Which is probably why she eventually catches the odd way the crowd almost seems to part a little behind her as she makes her way deeper into the city.

So forgive her for feeling a bit jumpy by the time she catches a hand reaching out toward her in the corner of her eye. She whirls on her heel (heedless of the way she makes an obstacle of herself in this foot traffic) even as said hand drops abruptly away. She flinches away from the near-touch, planting her heels and ready to shove back the instant that hand might rise toward her again—and she certainly doesn’t regret it when she gets a real look at the guy responsible. That expression and that freaky eye of his don’t exactly make a sterling first impression.

So yeah, she’s not buying that excuse.]

Yeah, sure you did. Or is that just the line you give to every girl you stalk through the streets?

[She’s angry and defensive, and the feelings bleed through to her words just as much as her posture.]

[zauneyete]

[ Silco's lip curled instinctively. It's an ugly thing, with the scars, with the marring on his face, but it gets across the revulsion clear enough. ]

Don't insult me.

[ He said, his tone sharp, a rebuke like a knife. His hand already at his side, stock still. The crowd parts around him, even those coming from behind him knew who he was, and Silco was given a wide berth. Chloe will find that they don't close in yet, like Silo is a rock parting a wave, and the river is redirected for some meters past him. He straightened to his (not) considerable height, and looked up at her. Somehow, despite the fact that the old man was shorter than her, his presence seemed bigger than his thin, weak-looking frame. ]

Choose to believe me, or don't. You aren't the only person with blue hair and tattoos.

[ Of course, she had blue hair and tattoos.

Really, from a distance, it had been all he could do to try and follow her, and catch her. The mistake had been in daring to hope that this was a different person altogether. Go figure. Does it make him despair? No. He is only angry, angrier each day. ]

Now, if you wouldn't mind?

[ He indicated the path in front of him. Which was where she was standing.

Was he.

Was he asking her to get out of his way?

What an asshole. ]

[punkisntdead]

You seriously expect me to buy that?

[Man, that is an oddly specific thing to be mistaking someone with, so it’s not doing a whole lot to convince her she’s wrong here. Sure, a coincidence like that might be one of the least weird things she’s encountered since digging herself out of the ground here, but it all feels a little to neat. Still, for half a second she contemplates whether a change for her hair would be in order—and then just as quickly discards that idea, because like hell she’s gonna let some weirdo influence her like that.

She’s never given much of a shit about balking at people trying to make themselves seem more important or authoritative than they are, so as Silco straightens up, she simply stands her ground, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. But even if she might chafe against the tough front this guy is putting up, she’s not blind the the very obvious way the crowd is putting a lot of space between him and them as the flow of foot traffic continues around them. It’s a very real signal that they know what this guy’s about… and even if she doesn’t buy this being purely a case of mistaken identity, she can’t deny that he’s probably got a lot more going on here than that spindly appearance of his might indicate.

Which admittedly causes a little bit of unease to well up in the pit of her stomach, because it might mean she’s biting off more than she can chew here. And the thought of how she’s very distinctly lacking in backup or any sort of familiarity with this place down here gets that sneer she initially responded with to falter a little.

At least, until he has the gall to tell her to move out of the way.]

Fuck that. You can go around, your majesty.

[Since he seems to think so highly of himself.]

[zauneyete]

[ Like with the first statement, he balks, the look of disgust flickered across his face yet again. Silco, after all, was a man of distinct opinions about such things, and this was one of many. He didn't like that, disapproved, even, but more than that, he knew the tone.

She might not be as... excitable, as the person he'd mistaken her for (read: insane) but she was every bit a teenager as well, and Silco could only lift his only real eyebrow. ]

Obstinate.

[ He says. He doesn't deign her with a response to her fighting back. After all, he'd meant it when he'd said he didn't really care if she believed him or not. after all, her opinion didn't really matter to him, now that he'd realized she wasn't who he thought she was.

Trick of the light. How often had that happened recently? ]

A small word to the wise, hm?

When in Kowloon, it is best to read your surroundings a little more carefully. It is not for those who refuse to look carefully.

[punkisntdead]

[Obstinate. Yeah, whatever, she’s been called worse and by way more annoying people. But she hates the way it almost feels like he’s lecturing her—especially when he does go on to offer his little bit of unsolicited advice. She bristles against it, glaring down at him.]

I saw you coming, didn’t I? I can take care of myself here, thanks.

[Said a lot more confidently than she truly feels about it, but whatever. It’s just because she’s new here. She’ll get the hang of it and run circles around everyone here before long.]

A city is a city. You find where the good shit is, avoid the freaks, [hmm, pointed,] and move on with your life.

[zauneyete]

[ He doesn't point out that he'd called for her, before he'd realized who she was, that led her to "see" him, but his lips quirk anyway, as if what she'd said was extremely funny. ]

Avoid the freaks?

[ He asked, a single real eyebrow lifted, and his smile was a ghost of a real one, but it was there for only a second. ]

Well then, you're doing an excellent job thus far.

[ He gestured with a hand toward a sign, down the walkway. 'DRAUMAHOL' it read, the 'o' replaced with a large eye. ]

The goods you're looking for? Might make that a touch difficult, of course. I do suggest you find your footing, before you decide your survival tactics will work here too.

[punkisntdead]

[Look, nothing Chloe ever says could possibly be wrong, so of course that look of amusement of his only prompts her own expression to sour further. She’s nearly bristling enough that she’s tempted to snap at him about it, but manages to bite her tongue long enough for her gaze to follow that gesture to the indicated sign.

Okay, that’s something to work with at least. And it makes that vague as hell advice she’d been given by the one she’d pestered directions to get down here from to “find the eye” make a whole lot more sense. She looks back his way, dropping the agitation from her tone just a tad.]

Well, you’re just Mr. Know-It-All, aren’t you?

[She’s going to frown so deeply when she realizes who owns the place. Connect those dots, girl!!]

Like I said, I’m more than capable of handling it. [A beat in which she crosses her arms over her chest, and then with the flippancy of totally not asking for real, totally:] Got any other unsolicited advice, since you’re feeling so charitable?

[God, she needs to get her hands on a gun or something asap.]

[zauneyete]

[ There's almost a derisive tip of his head. Alright, so for one: it was insulting that she wasn't Jinx, but the fact that she hadn't immediately put things together meant she wasn't as intelligent as his daughter either — because Silco was a wholly logical man who did not hold Jinx up as the standard that everyone fell short of (😬) — which left him mostly... disgusted and annoyed that the tree had wasted the effort to bring someone yet again, and it wasn't even someone who could meet the standard.

Silco really just. Needs to be a slightly calmer person, and he clearly isn't doing it. ]

Just one small, little tip.

[ His lips twitched, before they turned back down into his usual, derisive sneer. ]

A place like this requires observational skills. [ One of his eyes blinked, the other, stared up at her with distinct malice. It wasn't even personal, Silco just looked at everyone like that. ]

I would brush up on them, before you happen to... annoy someone with enough power to make your life difficult. Particularly if you're looking for goods.

[ A shrug. ] Ah, but what do I know? I'm only an old man, hm?

[ The sarcastic tip of his head was, perhaps, the death knell. ]